Agent Vinod

Mumbai: Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer Agent Vinod may not have got a bumper opening at the box office but the makers say they have to recover only Rs 30 crore which is an achievable target.

Directed by Sriram Raghavan, Agent Vinod, an action-spy film, had Saif playing the role of a RAW agent and Kareena as a spy. The film released yesterday to mixed reviews.

“The film has been made for Rs 50 crores and 12 crores went for marketing totalling to 62 crores. Out of which we have already recovered 50 percent as music and satellite rights have been sold for around 30 crores,” producer Dinesh Vijan, told PTI.

Reuters

“The task ahead is to make around Rs 30 crores which is a very achievable figure,” he said. Vijan along with Saif launched a production company Illuminati Films, and this is their second film for the banner.

Agent Vinod has been the biggest from our production house. Love Aaj Kal was our first film and we shot it in three continents. On the other hand, this has been filmed in 12 countries and each schedule came with its own set of problems. The possibility of things going wrong in a love story compared to an action story is 1:10. We are proud of the final product that Sriram has delivered,” Vijan said.

“The opening of the film is very critical and they are usually backed by huge promotions. The first three days it is a producer’s film. From Monday onwards, the film becomes a director’s film,” he said.

Even before the release of the film, Saif was keen on making it into a franchise, provided it does well at the box office.

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Time to take urgent measures to control drug resistant TB

New Delhi, Sat, 24 Mar 2012NI Wire

One day before the World Tuberculosis Day on Friday, the members of civil society called for urgent measures to act on regulation of tuberculosis (TB) drugs in the private market and growing number of drug-resistant TB. World TB day is observed on 24th March of every year.

"It's painfully clear that DR-TB infections are on the rise in India. The conditions for emergence of drug resistance are undeniably prevalent, in both the public programme and the private health sector," said Amit Sengupta from Peoples' Health Movement.

Deligates from Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), Peoples' Health Movement, Stop TB Partnership and Delhi Network of Positive People (DNP+) said on Friday that that the Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP) pretends a higher risk of miss doses to the patients that is a major concern that induces the need to create drug-resistant strains of TB.

It is to be noted that through The Revised National TB Control Program (RNTCP), the patients of Tb are provided alternate day treatment which does not includes any investment in the treatment counseling that can enhance the fidelity of treatment.

"The Direct Observed Treatment (DOT) model implemented by RNTCP is paternalistic, and fails to empower and support patients through TB treatment serving up a perfect recipe for treatment interruptions. This has implications not only for the patients treated but also on the development of drug resistance," said Hari Shankar, of the DNP+.

Tuberculosis in India results in the death over 3 million people every year with two deaths every three minutes, According to the health ministry's TB Control India statistics.

Tb is an airborne bacterial disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which affects the lungs severely. The symptoms of the disease includes producing bloody or discoloured sputum, night sweats, fever, fatigue and weakness, pain in the chest, loss of appetite, and pain in breathing or coughing that can last for a period of three weeks or longer.

"The proliferation of TB formulations in the private market coupled with the casual over-the-counter sale of antibiotics, of which some are used for DR TB treatment, is fuelling the development of drug resistance," said Piero Gandini, MSF's Head of Mission in India.

"There is an urgent need for regulatory control of sale and administration of TB drugs in the private sector in order to address the growing incidence of severe forms of DR-TB in India," Gandini added.

WHO consensus: Don’t use TDR-TB label

VARANASI: When the world would come together to observe World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on Saturday (March 24), the district health administration would be looking for ways to eliminate multi-drug resistant TB cases, in line with the slogan and theme of the day that calls for a world free of TB. While the task looks daunting with over 6,000 TB patients registered under various directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) centres in the district, it has also emerged as a challenge for health authorities looking to curb TB cases in the region.

"We have already identified about 250 suspected resistant TB cases in the district that are going to be covered under DOTS Plus project. A number of these cases are also HIV positive, requiring special focus and attention under the project. The appraisal has been approved by the state government and after the appraisal of the Central government, it would be known as problematic management of resistant TB (PMRT) to specifically target resistant TB cases," said Dr UK Verma, district TB officer (DTO) while talking to TOI on Friday.

It may be mentioned here that a state-of-art anti-retroviral therapy (ART) centre has been running at Banaras Hindu University for detection and treatment of HIV positive cases. The centre has registered over 14,000 HIV positive cases in the last seven years with some of the cases also witnessing resistant TB to aggravate the conditions.

As per reports of district TB centre (DTC), about 6,500 TB patients are presently registered at various DOTS centres with nearly 250 suspected resistant TB cases. There are a total of seven TB units with as many as 43 microscopic and DOTS centres equipped with facilities of sputum examination for detection and treatment of TB cases under DOTS programme in the district. The programme ensures proper and regular medication lasting between six to nine months under the supervision of doctors for eliminating TB in the region.

According to Prof SC Matah, chest department (TB and respiratory diseases), BHU, (TB) is often not considered as a possible diagnosis and therefore goes undetected in children. This has made it difficult to assess the scope of the childhood TB epidemic. There is a need to come up with cheap and rapid tests that identifies TB in children who are at high risk. Similarly, a fully effective vaccine that protects children (and adults), including those living with HIV, against all forms of TB needs to be developed for creating a world free of TB. "But above all that, community knowledge and advocacy to create awareness about TB is needed to tackle the problem at grass root level," he added.

WHO consensus: Don’t use TDR-TB label

MUMBAI: It's not yet time to use the label of totally drug-resistant tuberculosis.

This is the consensus that emerged on Friday at the World Health Organization's (WHO) special meeting in Geneva to discuss a new nomenclature for the new, severely drug-resistant TB forms emerging in parts of the world.

The consensus, a day before World TB Day, also called for clinical trials of 'salvage drugs' (or compassionate drugs) which are a last-ditch therapy for patients now.

Hinduja Hospital reported 12 cases of TDR-TB in January, triggering a worldwide debate on whether the TB bacillus had become deadlier and immune to known drugs. The hospital's research team, led by Dr Zarir Udwadia, published a letter in the 'Clinical Infectious Diseases' journal highlighting the plight of four patients who were on salvage therapy after TB drugs failed. The media then reported eight other cases, three of whom died.

Dr Udwadia was invited to present his data at the WHO meeting, but the conclusion was categorical. "There is currently insufficient evidence to adopt new case definitions for drug-resistant TB,'' said the WHO press release.

Dr Udwadia told TOI on Friday that the very fact WHO has recognized that these new virtually untreatable types of TB exist is a step forward. "Changing terminology and introducing a new term from MDR and then XDR to now TDR is a hugely difficult undertaking and has great implications at programmatic levels across the globe,'' he said.

He added that many committee members felt, for various reasons--political and psycho-social--that TDR carried too many negative associations, was too final a descriptor, and carried a sense of hopelessness.

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MY SLIDESHOW

The other India

......not in distant UP or Bihar but at our very own Kurla train terminus. I was there last night, to pick up my mom, returning from Kanpur on the Lucknow Express. Suffice it to say I felt transported to Mulayam Singh country standing in Mumbai itself.Now of course large swathes of this city are not 'first world' at all. Or even second world (if something like that exists). But when it comes to a public amenity such as a railway station in a major metro, there are certain minimum standards you expect.CST, Bombay Central, even Dadar - they're not fancy but they're fairly functional. A station like CST was built over a hundred years ago and there's scarcely any room for expansion. Yet the local and through train terminus somehow co-exist and bear enormous passenger loads. By contrast, Kurla terminus is exclusively for long-distance trains. It was built from scratch but God knows which planner/ architect was employed by the railways for the job. Its existence almost justifies 250 years of British rule in India. Had they not been here, perhaps the rest of our stations too would look like tabelas.The first problem with Kurla terminus is that it is in the middle of nowhere. Meaning not enough signage - whichever side you approach it from. But that is nothing - wait till you actually get there.You will somehow have to squeeze past the taxis and rickshaws piled up at the narrow exit-cum-entrance to park your car. A vast ubad khabad maidan with piles of rubbish where rats the size of 2 week old kittens stroll languidly. A housing complex for the upwardly mobile of said species complete with picturesque garbage dump and 'tracks' view!Enter the station 'complex' which is basically a couple of platforms under tin roof sheds and a large cement and concrete hall. A kind of 'waiting area' where rows upon rows of sheet clad bodies are laid out in various stages of slumber. Waiting for a train? Or simply waiting it out till they find accomodation in Mumbai. You can't really tell. Onto the platform. The stench hits you, full on. A giant unwashed and uncared for smell; a lone uniformed employee valiantly spraying the tracks with pressurised water. Standing there in a pool of self-created sludge.The already-narrow platform is half occupied with giant gunny bags barely leaving room for alighting passengers. Two trains pull in at around the same time - both over 2 hour late. There is absolute chaos as a mass of humanity spills out of the station and tumbles into the waiting tangle of transport. No traffic policeman in sight...The first taste of Mumbai for folks from the hinterland. The dirt, dust, chaos and lack of amenities perhaps make them feel right at home!I entered the stationmaster's office with the intention of writing a complaint/ suggestion. Can't the railways at least level the ground outside the station to provide proper parking? I mean, you're charging us for it!A tired middle aged man looked up and,"Madam, kya karein.. sab unplanned hai. Naya building banega." Kab? I was last at Kurla terminus 6 years ago and nothing has changed in the interim period. A tiny rat scampered across his room as we were having this conversation. Simultaneously the train we were expecting pulled into the station and I abort my 'improve India' mission. Just glad to pick up mom and head home!The thing is...Building clean, functional railway stations is not rocket science. There's the Delhi metro of course but also just a few kms from Kurla, the example of New Bombay. Vashi, Belapur and the like. They're 'local' of course, but living proof of stations built to some kind of plan. And an improvement on the British zamaane ka model - with better design, construction quality and hygiene standards. You keep clean, it stays clean. You build a cowshed, it stays that way. And gets worse... But then Shree Laloo Prasad is too busy giving lectures at IIM A and Harvard to bother about such minor irritants. And the media - so full of discussion and debate on the need for a second airport in Mumbai - could hardly care less. At the very least they should stop calling this horror 'Lokmanya Tilak' train terminus. Now that, would be a real sign of respect.P.S. I am leaning towards Nokia N80 as my next phone. Does it take decent night shots? Any N80 owners with views/ opinions - please do get in touch!

The Sex Education debate

Indian Express reports: The Madhya Pradesh has decided to end the Adolescent Education Programme (AEP), two years after it was introduced in class IX and XI, saying "sex education has no place in Indian culture".Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's decision came a day after he met Deenanath Batra, chairman of RSS body 'Shiksha Bachao Samiti'. Batraji advised the CM that yoga should be included in the curriculum in place of sex education.Apparently, NSUI had also recently protested the use of 'graphic anatomical pictures' in the kit provided to teachers. Teachers themselves had protested against "indecency in the name of education".ET reports:According to some teachers, illustrations in the book showing physical changes in male and female bodies from childhood to puberty to adulthood were offensive. They said they would not be able to talk to students regarding the same or show such diagrams.The diagrams in question are similar to what is contained in many biology books taught to school children showing the human anatomy. However, teachers in Madhya Pradesh argued, the human anatomy was different from sexual organs.One Mr Rajesh Tiwari, principal of government-run Excellence School in Bhopal, believes AIDS is a different issue and sex is different."Why do you need these diagrams of nude boys and girls? It is against our culture to talk sex and show such diagrams to our students. Fifty years ago, teachers did not need to speak of sex to students. So why the necessity today?Why should a 15-year-old be openly spoken to about sex? Just tell them that according to Indian tradition, every man has to lead the life of a ‘bramhachari (bachelor)’ till the age of 25. Tell them AIDS can be contacted through a used syringe or blood transfusion." There have been similar concerns in Kerala.My reply to Tiwariji, Batraji and all others concerned about the impact of sex education on ‘Indian culture’:50 years ago we only had Binaca Geetmala on All India Radio. Today we have item girls in bikini tops and chaddis jiggling it on prime time television.50 years ago Bollywood couples only danced around trees. Today they kiss, have sex and sometimes even get pregnant before marriage. Then, proudly carry around their bump.50 years ago most Indian girls attained puberty at age 13-14. Today, it’s as early as 9.A recent survey by the Madhya Pradesh Voluntary Health Association (MPVHA) of 250 girls in the 10-19 age group in 12 districts found that 70 % want sex education to be made a part of curriculum in schools. The survey found that over 60 percent of the girls were facing a communication gap with their parents due to shyness and fear, and 80 percent were unaware of physical changes in their bodies during adolescence.As many as 47 percent of the girls indicated that they were sexually harassed outside their homes. Of these, 53 percent said they had never complained to their guardians about it.NCERT’s AEP (Adolescence Education Programme) includes activity sessions to learn about sexual molestation and its prevention. The program also has modules on homosexuality being a preference rather than an abnormality. And questions like: “When did you first have wet dreams? Did that change your approach to girls?”I haven’t seen the actual syllabus but it hardly seems as if giving this kind of information is ‘encouraging’ sexual activity. If anything, young people get their doubts answered by a credible source rather than hearsay. Secondly, class IX to XI students are around 14-16 years of age and ‘not too young’. In fact, if anything, it’s a bit late in the day and they already know. I personally think by age 9-10 the biological aspect should be explained by parents to their kids, along with some of the value-based, emotional and cultural issues which come up in adolescence.We can’t pretend that sex is possible only after marriage because kids will find out that’s a lie. But we can communicate that in our culture, as well as experience, it is better to wait. That having sex is a big decision, with emotional repercussions, and must not be taken lightly.However I find a lot of parents – even urban, educated types – would rather ignore the issue altogether or wait till the child is ‘old enough’. For some, that day never really comes. A parent recently told me that some mothers arranged a session with a gynaec for their girls in class IV and V. So she could explain to them ‘everything’ and answer any questions they had.This particular mom did not feel comfortable sending her 10 year old. I’m not sure why. She’ll simply get hand-me-down information from the girls who did attend… So why be shy??The parents vs the stateThe does-sex-education-encourage-sex debate is not confined to our country alone. There is a huge controversy in the US on this issue as well. There is a divide between parents who believe schools should impart only ‘abstinence education’ and professionals who believe it is imperative to also impart information on birth control.Abstinence education was created in the early 1980s by Marion Howard, a professor at Atlanta's Emory University. Apparently, when Howard asked 1,000 sexually active teenage girls what they most wanted to know about sex, 84 % said they wanted to learn "how to say no without hurting the other person's feelings."So was born the Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) which uses acting, mimicking, and role-playing to tell 5th, 6th and 7th graders that they are too young to have sex. The unique aspect is the message to abstain is best delivered by kids of their own age. Sessions are conducted by trained ‘peer leaders’ under teacher supervision.Formal evaluation of the program reveals that PSI makes teens less likely to indulge in sexual activity in the year following abstinence education. And 4 years later, in the 12th grade,1/ 3rd of participating girls are less likely to become pregnant.But that sounds like a pretty vague statistic to me.According to MSNBC 66% of American high school students have had sex by their senior year. And these same teens are paying the price by contracting dangerous — and sometimes deadly — sexually transmitted diseases. In fact, 65 percent of all sexually transmitted infections contracted by Americans this year will occur in people under 24.Yet only 18 US states and the District of Columbia require schools to provide sex education The WHO believes that there is no evidence that comprehensive sex education programs encourage sexual activity. This was their conclusion after a study of 35 such programs around the world. And I am inclined to agree...The way forward Since a majority Indian parents are unlikely to be comfortable talking about sex with their kids, a formal sex education programs has its merits. A Indianised version of the ‘abstinence’ program can be added on to satisfy those worried about sex education affecting Indian culture.The truth however is that formal sex education has little or no impact on the decision to have sex. The external environment such as peer group interaction, media imagery and individual personality – sex drive, appetite for risk etc which responsible. And those are factors beyond the state’s control.Yes, a value system or belief system can be influenced by what parents and elders say or do in the impressionable growing years. But as a young adult your child may accept or reject those values – that’s his or her choice.In any case, the situation is not as ‘grim’ as our cultural warriors believe. The % of young people having sexual intercourse below the age of 18 appears to be relatively small.A study of medical college students found sexual intercourse had been experienced by 11.8% of respondents. The mean age of first sexual intercourse was 17.5 years. Along similar lines, a National Institute of Health and Family Welfare study concluded that that premarital sex varies from 17% among schoolchildren to 33% among young workers in the typical north Indian population.Among those who had sex, the average age for first sex estimated by the researchers was 17.4 years for boys and 18.2 for girls. 60% of respondents said that they had sex ‘rarely’.The study was conducted among 1500 young people in the slums of Delhi and Lucknow. A rider: both these studies were conducted circa 2000-2001. Yes, the figures would definitely have gone up. Here’s a more direct indication:In 1996, the Durex ‘global sex sex survey’ found that the average Indian male had sex for the first time at age 25. The same annual survey concluded in 2005 that Indians, on average lost their virginity at the age of 19.8.Of course I would not take this at face value (academicians call it a ‘quick and dirty survey’ with a sample which does not represent the general population as it’s only online!).But some of the pop statistics do seem close to the truth.Indians were the ‘oldest’ to lose their virginity – at age 19.8. We also had the fewest sexual partners n the world (just 3, vs a global average of 9).So the culture brigade can feel ‘happy’ at our relative conservatism or alarmed (at our relative promiscuity, compared to previous generations). Either way, we can’t blame ‘more sex education’ for these behavourial trends.Killing the education bit won’t reduce the propensity towards sex. But it just might end up killing safe-sex-ignorant young people.

Lights, Action... Cut!

Visits to the dentist can usually be characterised asa) painfulb) very painfulc) painful beyond description.Yet, today, the word that came to mind was quite the opposite. Comical is when you hold up a laltain-like emergency lamp a few metres from your face, so that dentistji can see the cavity in your mouth. And attempt to fill it in.All because the electricity got cut 15 minutes ahead of schedule - at 11.15 am. Luckily, we'd finished the drilling bit or I'd have been hanging around half-excavated, till 3.45 pm when the MSEB deigned to restore power to Vashi.It sucks. Absolutely, completely, horrendously. At first we had cuts from 7.30-10.30 am. Bad, but you got used to it and life went on.Now, the timing has been changed - and from 3 hours, we're upto 4. Make that four and a half. Sales of inverters have shot up - fan ke bina to koi scene hi nahin hai. But what about life in general? What about hospitals, shops, offices... And why just New Bombay and other areas technically outside, or on the outskirts of Mumbai??Far enough from Mantralaya and the homes of Godrej-Ambani-Birla to not stir the powers that be into action.Further down, in the rest of Maharashtra, there are 8 hour power cuts, 12 hour power cuts. Maybe the hours they get power should be counted instead of the time they don't!I am angry. We are all angry. But we know not what can be done...A really long and hot summer lies ahead. There seems to be no option but to plan your life around what you can't change. My dentist had better go nau-se-baarah - not in the am but pm.

'Hum hain na..' yeah right!

If I hear the tan tana na tana ta tana na jingle of ICICI Bank for a few more seconds... I will probably puke. The phone banking system of the bank which pays Shahrukh Khan several crores to give a dimpled smile and say 'hum hain na' had better do something about its phone banking services.
It's all very well to talk about 'revolution in the banking sector'. But is the idea of phone banking merely a strategy to help a relatively new bank expand aggressively? Or was it also supposed to make my life as a customer easier?
My interaction with ICICI phone banking over the last one year certainly leaves me in doubt over that question. The common problems one encounters:-
- Punch in your debit card, pin number etc etc and try to reach a phone banking officer (you may have an automated menu but it does not fulfil every need!).
"Sorry ma'am my system is down.. pl punch yr 16 digit pin number again..."
I do that.
The second person who comes on line asks me to do the same thing! And a third!!
And this is not an isolated incident. Invariably, there is some kind of accident or mishap while speaking to a phone banking officer - or you are put indefinitely on hold. Either way, it's back to hearing 'hum hain na..." tan tana tan tana tan tana tan.
Why not just change your tune to 'jingle hai na..."!
A single call to this bank can easily take 20-30 minutes. How different is that from going to the branch and standing in line there? And did you notice, it's not even a toll-free number!
Yes, on one occassion a higher-up in the phone banking chain went out of his way to help me with my net banking password. But honestly, had the bank used a better courier who would have left a 'We were here while you were away' slip (as is the standard practice) I would not have had to trouble him.
Customer 'service'
No amount of advertising can convince me of ICICI Bank's love for me. The only other time I hear from them is when they (or their DSAs) wish to sell me something. A car loan, a home loan.. whatever.
And I bet I'll get 16 calls a day if I ever default.
Service is when a phone banker calls and says,"Ma'am you have some money lying in your account which could be earning more interest. Can I put it in a fixed deposit? And by the way, a flexi-deposit may make even more sense..."
Instead they 'build the brand' by putting up giant hoardings all over screaming 9% interest. And expect us to sms our desire to participate.
But why should any bank bother? Hamara paisa pada hai to unhe fayda hai. Or so it would seem. A single call from a bank which is in my genuine interest would earn you more in goodwill and future business than you can imagine.
Perhaps all phone banking systems have these troubles - not just ICICI. Maybe ICICI customers are just more net savvy, more vocal. Here are just a few thread with complaints....
Avinash Murkute on mouthshut.com (complaint posted on April 3 2007 - and apparently taken note of).But that's just one of a looooooooooong list.
A thread on Arjun Prabhu's blog started 2 years ago which still gets customers venting their ire (ICICI seems to be monitoring this as well and responding)
And here too ICICI features prominently. Along with Indiatimes shopping and Air Deccan. (I know most of us have vowed not to fly on that airline but let me tell you, but just in case, they have a completely dysfunctional website which is being 'upgraded' for the last two months! )
The bottomline: Some kind soul from ICICI is likely to read this, email me and apologise for the 'inconvenience caused'. But, the problem is systemic.
'Hum hain na' has to be a genuine philosophy for the company. Not just an irritating advertising jingle mouthed by a charming but overpaid actor.

The Air hostess dream

An air hostess job - on ground - is like being a waitress. And yet that simple prefix makes it so much more. A job with glamour, money and a chance to 'see the world'. At least that's how it used to be.I grew up in a colony of scientists where every kid became a doctor, engineer of PhD. But there was one notable exception. A girl called Pushpa who joined Cathay Pacific.The aunties might have gossiped and whispered but Pushpa couldn't care less. She was good looking - in an arrogant and casual sort of way. And she had perfect skin, which we were told was the essential requirement for an air hostess job.Cathay was good for Pushpa. She travelled the world, enjoyed free tickets for the family and last heard, had married a Greek and settled down abroad somewhere.An average-at-studies girl used her looks to her advantage. And got to see do things she could never have, stuck on ground.But this story is not about Pushpa. It's about the dream of being an air hostess. Today there are numerous 'air hostess training' institutes. One uses a celebrity brand ambassador, the other boasts of a UK certification and yet another says 'life long placements'.Fine. But placements where? Mostly low budget domestic airlines. Frankfinn goes so far as to advertise an 'exclusive tie up' with Air Deccan - meaning that airline recruits only Frankfinn students.Not sure if that's such a wise thing to advertise! Sure, being an air hostess on Spicejet or Deccan is a decent 'job' but most of the elements of the dream are missing. No foreign travel, or paycheck with 5 zeros. No duty free shopping and no fancy 5 star hotels stays.You are on your toes for 10-12 hours, almost continuously as a low budget aircraft has a quick turnaround time and makes 5-6 flights a day. Plus, you have nothing much to do or 'serve'. Just hand out bottles of water, or sell sandwiches.And, there are irate passengers to constantly deal with!Of course someone has to do this job - and there's always hope that you may move on to something 'better'. However, as far as I can see the new airlines apply less stringent standards...And the likes of Kingfisher and Jet still place regular ads to recruit their own candidates - instead of relying solely on training institutes.The point I am making is that people who join these institutes should be clear that they may have joined to pursue a 'dream'. But be prepared to end up with what is merely a job.So don't expect automatic aahs and ooohs when you say "I'm an air hostess"! Which airline you fly determines your place in the pecking order. So if you do have perfect skin - aim high!

Castles in the air

I got married at the age of 41... because I could not buy a house.Coming from Hafeez Contractor , that's quite a statement. In an interview to HT Cafe Contractor elaborates:Abhi loan milti hai.. It was difficult to get a housing loan back then.... Not that I couldn't have got married. But the girls I used to like were from rich families. And at the time I used to stay with my mother ina one-room kitchen in Gowalia Tank.... That's the reason I understand a 25 year old's dilemma.. he wants toget married. But can't buy his dream house.Of course, understanding does not mean the guy is doing something about it.Most of the buildings he designs aren't the kind a 25 year old can afford.Contractor blames this on government policies, such as restrictive FSI."We need to create an economy of abundance, instead of making people pay the price of scarcity - we are creating it," he laments.Effect of this artificial scarcity: loans are readily available - but who can afford the EMIs anymore? My cousin visited a property exhibition in Mumbai recently where the cheapestflat - in Goregaon - was going for Rs 80 lakhs. Anything in Andheri, Rs 90lakhs - 1 crore."I can't take a loan for 70 lakhs," he sighed. And if he, working for oneof India's best known banks at a senior position can't afford it, I wonder which 30 something professional can!Destiny callsBut back to the architect. An interesting fact about Contractor is that he almost didn't become an architect. Although he was obsessed with drawing from an early age, he actually did not get admission into architecture college because of poor marks in class12.A profile on Business Traveller notes:He was about to enrol in the army when an aunt tore off the letter ofadmission. Contractor then joined the Arts stream in Jai Hind College in Mumbai. The journey back into the world of architecture was by sheerchance. The subject French was a handicap and so he decided to take tuitions from his cousin's wife. The cousin owned an architecture firm and sometimes theclasses were conducted in the office. One day, in the office, Contractorsaw the detail of a window and commented that it would not open in its present design. His cousin was surprised and asked him to show his version of the window and despite having no formal training, Contractor's inputs were very good. Another family member then used some influence and managed to get him aseat for an entrance test in which he scored A+.Amazing story, isn't it? Hafeez went on to become the most successful graduate of Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture.Too much hype?Of course, Hafeez Contractor has his critics. Arzan Wadia writes in his blog: Sadly, besides a few Indian architects, most are blindly aping the west. The band leader of the latter is none other than Hafeez Contractor. In a recent interview that he gave to a very good friend Rahul Bhatia,Contractor was asked : "When you look across the Mumbai skyline, there’s a kind of sameness, nothing that catches the eye." and his response was "When you have a residential building, it consists of a living room, bedroom, hall, and kitchen. It’s only when you have something different, like a museum, or a hotel, that things are different." I am baffled by such comments. What he is trying to imply is that residential buildings all look the same. How wrong can he be. Residential buildings the world over offer an amazing variety of design. He does not even have to look so far.Kanchenjunga, at Kemps Corner is one of the bestexamples of residential high rises. Sadly not one of the hundreds of Hafeez buildings can even aspire to come close to that.I agree - Kanchenjunga, designed by Charles Correa , is something else. But Correa does very few residential projects. Contractor may have done a lot of other work but is best known for projects like Hiranandani. The aam aadmi can recognise a Contractor building and it appears beautiful (beauty being relative to the other crumbling old buildings around).As a brand name in architecture, Contractor is the biggest there is in India today. And that is no mean achievement!The Other ArchitectPerhaps, you say, someone new will come along and create a new, moreoriginal and India-inspired architecture. But wait, there was such a man.His name was Laurie Baker.An award-winning English architect, renowned for his initiatives in low-cost housing... Baker sought to enrich the culture in which he participated by promoting simplicity and home-grown quality in hisbuildings. Baker became well known for designing and building low cost, high quality homes, with a great portion of his work suited to or built forlower-middle to lower class clients.More on the man who devoted 50 years of his life to a unique philosophy of architecture here.Yet, when Laurie Baker died 3 weeks ago, how many newspapers gave it coverage on their front pages? Only the Indian Express. I bet the TVchannels didn't even consider it to be 'news'. The man did not build skyscrapers or malls, after all. No castles, just beautiful, affordable, livable homes.

Song in my head

...Laari Choote from the film Ek Chaalis ki Local.Incidentally 'laari' would generally mean lorry or truck, but here it refers to a train. And it probably means something like loved one - or laadli - in Punjabi. So it appears that the hero and heroine are going to miss the last local home. The actors in question being Abhay Deol and Neha Dhupia, at least the song will create some buzz for the film! More than some silly kiss for sure.The moment you hear 'Laari Choote' you know there's gotta be a Pakistani behind it. And that is the case. Xulfi of the popular band The Call. But this song is a solo effort. One has to ask - yeh Pakistani musicians mein kya jadoo hai? Atif Aslam's recent Doorie is another amazing piece of work. Not just the title track, the entire album rocks! Mahesh Bhatt, for once, gets it right. Speaking to the IHT, he notes: "Pakistani music had an appeal akin to that of African-American music in the United States: a tradition of song inspired by suffering".Moral of the story: If you have a star cast which may make the audience suffer, throw in a Pakistani song or two! Agar Emran Hashmi ko neutralise kiya ja sakta hai, to Nehaji to chhotee si cheez hain.

'Biotech boom' - but where are the jobs?

Everyone wants to enter a field which is 'hot'. One such field is biotech. You would have read innumerable articles on the scope of bitechnology. The jobs opening up in the sector. And of course the poster pin up company Biocon. As a report in the Hindu notes: Career counsellors and those engaged in educational guidance... are flooded with inquiries about biotechnology courses and their scope. Biotechnology today looks like what information technology was in the 1990s. But are prospects really that bright? Today, an engineer from an average college can easily land an IT job. What about the biotech graduate? First of all, there is this huge debate over whether biotech should be offered at all the undergrad level. M. Radhakrishna Pillai, Director of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram, stated to the Hindu: "Biotechnology cannot exist at the B.Sc. level, where one should learn the basic science. B.Sc. Biotechnology courses have created a confused lot in Kerala, defeating the very purpose of the subject."The same holds true of other states. A number of colleges and universities, especially the private and deemed variety are offering 'BSc Biotech'. Students who were trying for medical but failed to get through would rather opt for a biotech course than a regular BSc. At least kisi ko kehne mein to better lagta hai.For the colleges also, it's a happy thing. Fees for an undergraduate biotech course are far higher than a BSc. One assumes this is because the college will provide better facilities, more qualified teachers etc but... sadly this is generally not the case. In most cases, Biotech students actually use the same labs as the students doing Microbiology/ Life Science!What about PG?At the post graduate level, JNU is the most reputed college, the toughest to get into. The combined entrance exam held by JNU can also get you into 32 other colleges offering biotech at MSc/ MTech level. BHU, Goa University, Anna University and PuneUniversity are some of the next best choices.Now this is the case in every profession. Everyone can't get into the best college. However, in biotech there are certain unique problems. JNU has a tie up with DBT (Dept of Biotechnology) which makes it easy for their students to work on live projects during the course of the MSc. Others do not have it so easy. When it comes to industrial training, you may actually have to pay for it. For example, students of PTU (Punjab Technical University), Indore who went to IIT Delhi last year for 2 months training paid Rs 15,000 (boarding and lodging extra). This money goes towards facilities (eg kits, labs, equipment etc) and the students get to work on a live experiment. There is the option of doing a project with a company also - some give you a stipend while others don't pay but don't charge you either. However having an IIT Delhi project on your resume will help when you go out for a job - so students don't mind paying. And for IIT, this is a way to get some additional funding for projects. So it's a win-win for both. But still, it's a little strange...And what about the job?OK, so now you graduate and start looking for a job. If there is such a 'boom' happening, it must be pretty easy, right? Unfortunately not the case.Shweta Agrawal, an MSc Biotech, has been looking out for a job for last 6 months. "I have given 15-20 interviews. The problem is there are very few real 'biotech' jobs," she says. The company may be 'biotech' but the job expected of an MSc is database management - not experimental. "It's very hard for a fresher to get a job in QC (Quality COntrol) or R & D because most companies have small teams and there isn't much job hopping." What's more, pharmacy graduates are preferred because they can do formulation as well as QC. A quick look at various job sites would tell you that openings for fresh MSc Biotech are few and far between. BSc Biotech ki to baat hi chhodiye. Actually from the job point of view, even MSc Chemistry may be better for you!An exception to all the above would be the handful who complete a BTech from IIT (KGP, Delhi and Bombay) or a Masters in biology from IISc."If I don't get a job of my choice soon I will start preparing for MBA," says Shweta. "The fact is, by now, an MBA from even the most unknown university would have got a job for Rs 10-15,000 p.m," she sighs.The alternate option of course is to do a Phd - either in India or abroad. However even after a PhD, prospects in India remain limited. You would most likely join a government laboratory (that's where much of the challenging work is being done). At age 28, armed with a Phd, you would earn Rs 8-10,000 as starting salary.So if you are planning to do Biotech - keep all this in mind before making your decision. Don't be lured by the idea of a boom and the fact that it sounds cool. Take up Biotech only if you have a deep love for the subject and wish to get into research. For which you must be open to doing a PhD.Otherwise, MBA aapke liye theek rahega. And oh, there is an MBA (Biotech) being offered as well... One last bit of advice. Don't fall for it, go for a more general degree!

Hard Rock Cafe Mumbai: hardly rocking

First visit: fantastic. Second visit: niceThird visit: ok...Fourth visit: bored!Are there only 15 songs in the hard rock universe? The service is slow and unsteady. And frankly, not too warm.A bunch of guys dancing above your head to the tune of 'YMCA'. Even they looked listless.Except for the company of a very dear friend, this visit was a forgettable experience.I might be suffering from I-get-bored-easily syndrome. But I definitely think there's something missing. Of course there are no other places in Mumbai which hold a candle to Hard Rock in terms of space, decor, sound system, sheer ambience and 'internationalness'. But it feels like one of those tourist spots - chalo ek baar dekh liya. Foreign se koi guest aaya, usey dikha diya. Not a place that owns a part of my soul.Or, in non-poetic language, a place where I would want to hang out. Over and over and over again.

Movie review: Bheja Fry... No stars!

Rare is the film which truly lives up to its name... This one is asal bheja fry. I really did not like it!The cast may remind you of Khosla ka Ghosla. But the movie is pointless, plotless and (mostly) witless. Vinay Pathak has acted well. The rest of the cast simply irritate, irritate and irritate.Most of all Sarika. So why did I see the film? Because Gaurav Malani - a guy whom I know and trust - wrote the review for JAM, recommending it highly. "I can't believe this!" I smsed him after the show. "This is one of the most faltu films I've seen in recent times... How could you give it 4 stars?""Lol.. I thot the same when you reviewed Fanaa," he replied back. So there you have it - if you violently disagreed with my review of Fanaa you may like this film. I get the feeling there will be two camps here - of the 20 odd people in the 1000 seater Regal cinema who paid to watch the show, a few were laughing. A lot. The rest of us came out with a headache. Oh, by the way, it's a remake of a French film. Which explains a LOT of things. There are some things which are best left untouched by remake artists. Anything French is one of them! Other films releasing this weekend, reviewed by JAM:- Bandidas - Eragon - Perfect Strangers

Reason vs Rationalisation

A shorter version of this piece was published today as the second installment of my column, Thinking it Through, in Mint. The first is here.Often when I argue with friends, or on the internet, I am dismayed by how intransigent some people are. No matter how many facts I throw before them, or how solid my reasoning is, I simply cannot convince them of my point of view. No doubt they feel the same about me. "He refuses to listen to reason," they think, even as I bemoan how unreasonable they are.This is not a phenomenon peculiar to me: we live in deeply polarised times, and around half the world believes that the other half ignores reason altogether. Well, it is my belief that we overestimate reason to begin with. The Scottish Philosopher David Hume once described reason as “the slave of the passions,” and I believe that much of the time when we feel we are being reasonable, we are actually rationalising conclusions we have already arrived at, positions that we already hold.An excellent illustration of how our mind does this comes from neuroscience. In the 1960s, neuroscientists Michael Gazzaniga and Roger Sperry carried out a series of experiments on patients with split-brain epilepsy. A common treatment for such patients used to be to sever the corpus callosum, the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. This effectively splits the brain into two: rational thought is carried out by the left hemisphere, but the two halves of the brain stop being aware of the happenings the other half.Describing the experiments in his book, “The Blank Slate,” Steven Pinker wrote of how “the left hemisphere constantly weaves a coherent but false account of the behaviour chosen without its knowledge by the right.” One example: the experimenters would flash the word “walk” in the visual field of the right hemisphere. The patient would get up and start walking. But when asked why he did so, his left brain, which would be unaware of what the right brain had seen, and would effectively be doing the replying, gave answers such as “to get a coke.” The remarkable thing is that the patients actually believed their explanation, even though the conscious mind arrived at it after the unconscious mind prompted the body to start walking.Pinker called the conscious mind “a spin doctor, not the commander in chief,” while Gazzaniga referred to the left brain as “the interpreter.” In his book, “Phantoms in the Brain,” VS Ramachandran wrote, “[t]he left hemisphere’s job is to create a belief system or model and to fold new experiences into that belief system. If confronted with some new information that doesn’t fit the model, it relies on Freudian defence mechanisms to deny, repress or confabulate – anything to preserve the status quo.”In other words, the left brain’s job to to make sense of the world and build a coherent worldview. This isn’t easy. The world is full of complicated phenomena, and the most intelligent among us would not be able to make sense of it all if we tried to place each disparate event in its proper perspective. We would be perpetually bewildered.To deal with this, our brains evolved to seek patterns in everything. Michael Shermer, in his book “How We believe,” wrote: “Those who were best at finding patterns (standing upwind of game animals is bad for the hunt, cow manure is good for the crops) left behind the most offspring.” Of course, while we are especially good at seeking patterns in everything, not all patterns are meaningful, and many simply come from confusing correlation with causation. Thus, a cricketer who makes a century when he happens to have a red handkerchief in his pocket may carry that handkerchief with him for the rest of his career.Indeed, this explains religion. For much of our existence, science hasn’t been around (or able) to answer the big questions of the day. We’d have gone mad thinking about it all if we didn’t have religion to give us ready-made patterns that explained everything. Similarly, in the modern world, we have all kinds of belief systems that help make sense of the world around us, and provide us with cognitive shortcuts to think about the world.When these belief systems are attacked, it is natural for us to not want to have to rethink them. As an economist would say, that would be inefficient, wasting too much time and energy. Thus, various kinds of defence mechanisms originate for this purpose, such as the confirmation bias, which is a tendency to consider only evidence that fits our existing beliefs. A believer in astrology would do this, for example, by considering all correct predictions by an astrologer to be proof of its validity, while ignoring the ones that turn out false.And indeed, this is why most arguments, especially about politics and economics, are so frustrating. If both sides have firm beliefs, they stand little chance of convincing the other person, for most reasoned argument in such cases is rationalisation couched as reason. The next time you get into one of those arguments, and witness one of them, you will actually be able to observe this happening. The delight of it all is that the people involved will not be aware of this process, and will honestly believe themselves to be open-minded individuals who are, well, thinking it through. But that is mostly self-deception.

Reason vs Rationalisation

A shorter version of this piece was published today as the second installment of my column, Thinking it Through, in Mint. The first is here.Often when I argue with friends, or on the internet, I am dismayed by how intransigent some people are. No matter how many facts I throw before them, or how solid my reasoning is, I simply cannot convince them of my point of view. No doubt they feel the same about me. "He refuses to listen to reason," they think, even as I bemoan how unreasonable they are.This is not a phenomenon peculiar to me: we live in deeply polarised times, and around half the world believes that the other half ignores reason altogether. Well, it is my belief that we overestimate reason to begin with. The Scottish Philosopher David Hume once described reason as “the slave of the passions,” and I believe that much of the time when we feel we are being reasonable, we are actually rationalising conclusions we have already arrived at, positions that we already hold.An excellent illustration of how our mind does this comes from neuroscience. In the 1960s, neuroscientists Michael Gazzaniga and Roger Sperry carried out a series of experiments on patients with split-brain epilepsy. A common treatment for such patients used to be to sever the corpus callosum, the part of the brain that connects the two hemispheres of the brain. This effectively splits the brain into two: rational thought is carried out by the left hemisphere, but the two halves of the brain stop being aware of the happenings the other half.Describing the experiments in his book, “The Blank Slate,” Steven Pinker wrote of how “the left hemisphere constantly weaves a coherent but false account of the behaviour chosen without its knowledge by the right.” One example: the experimenters would flash the word “walk” in the visual field of the right hemisphere. The patient would get up and start walking. But when asked why he did so, his left brain, which would be unaware of what the right brain had seen, and would effectively be doing the replying, gave answers such as “to get a coke.” The remarkable thing is that the patients actually believed their explanation, even though the conscious mind arrived at it after the unconscious mind prompted the body to start walking.Pinker called the conscious mind “a spin doctor, not the commander in chief,” while Gazzaniga referred to the left brain as “the interpreter.” In his book, “Phantoms in the Brain,” VS Ramachandran wrote, “[t]he left hemisphere’s job is to create a belief system or model and to fold new experiences into that belief system. If confronted with some new information that doesn’t fit the model, it relies on Freudian defence mechanisms to deny, repress or confabulate – anything to preserve the status quo.”In other words, the left brain’s job to to make sense of the world and build a coherent worldview. This isn’t easy. The world is full of complicated phenomena, and the most intelligent among us would not be able to make sense of it all if we tried to place each disparate event in its proper perspective. We would be perpetually bewildered.To deal with this, our brains evolved to seek patterns in everything. Michael Shermer, in his book “How We believe,” wrote: “Those who were best at finding patterns (standing upwind of game animals is bad for the hunt, cow manure is good for the crops) left behind the most offspring.” Of course, while we are especially good at seeking patterns in everything, not all patterns are meaningful, and many simply come from confusing correlation with causation. Thus, a cricketer who makes a century when he happens to have a red handkerchief in his pocket may carry that handkerchief with him for the rest of his career.Indeed, this explains religion. For much of our existence, science hasn’t been around (or able) to answer the big questions of the day. We’d have gone mad thinking about it all if we didn’t have religion to give us ready-made patterns that explained everything. Similarly, in the modern world, we have all kinds of belief systems that help make sense of the world around us, and provide us with cognitive shortcuts to think about the world.When these belief systems are attacked, it is natural for us to not want to have to rethink them. As an economist would say, that would be inefficient, wasting too much time and energy. Thus, various kinds of defence mechanisms originate for this purpose, such as the confirmation bias, which is a tendency to consider only evidence that fits our existing beliefs. A believer in astrology would do this, for example, by considering all correct predictions by an astrologer to be proof of its validity, while ignoring the ones that turn out false.And indeed, this is why most arguments, especially about politics and economics, are so frustrating. If both sides have firm beliefs, they stand little chance of convincing the other person, for most reasoned argument in such cases is rationalisation couched as reason. The next time you get into one of those arguments, and witness one of them, you will actually be able to observe this happening. The delight of it all is that the people involved will not be aware of this process, and will honestly believe themselves to be open-minded individuals who are, well, thinking it through. But that is mostly self-deception.

A Valentine's Day story

I can't help but share this romantic tale with you:
Surendra (25) and Poonam (23) Gupta seemed like just another newly-wed couple going on their honeymoon when they boarded the train to Goa on February 5.However, two days later, while Surendra, a product executive with a pharma company, was found in an unconscious state in Goa, Poonam was found in a similar condition at Kalyan station.Now, a week after the incident, both are accusing the other of trickery.Have a good day, and don't do anything silly!

"Good girls do what they are told"

What is most chilling about this story is that it happened repeatedly, across America, to people just like you and me. It show just how authority can exert such a powerful influence, and can suppress conscience and empathy.That, of course, was quite what the famous Milgram experiment also demonstrated.

The return of Karamchand

"Shut up, Kitty.""Yes boss!"It's an excellent sign of the memorableness of a character if, almost two decades after we last saw him, we can remember his little idiosyncracies: the carrot-eating, the terse questioning, the affectionate faux-contempt towards the goofy sidekick. Karamchand was back on air today, and I think it will do well because of Karamchand -- the character, that is.The key to a popular detective series is to create a memorable character who entertains you, and who you enjoy reading about. Holmes, Poirot, Feluda were successful characters because once you were familiar with them, you looked forward to just being with them, regardless of plot. Indeed, plot was of negligible consequence. If you read Alexander McCall Smith's exceptionally popular Mma Ramotswe series, you will note that the plots there are amateurish, but the characters are immensely entertaining. That's the key to its popularity.I use the term "character" loosely, of course -- in much detective fiction, such as Agatha Christie's work, the main detectives are caricatures and not well-rounded characters with an interior life. And yet, they are entertaining caricatures, which is why it works.And so it is with Karamchand. Pankaj Kapur's character may never show the compassion or curiosity about the human condition that, say, Commissaire Maigret shows, but as long as he chews that carrot and tells Kitty to shut up, the TRPs will come in.(I'd accidentally put this post up on Chandrahas's blog, The Middle Stage, pressing the wrong button on my dashboard. Apologies to both his readers and mine!)

The return of Karamchand

"Shut up, Kitty.""Yes boss!"It's an excellent sign of the memorableness of a character if, almost two decades after we last saw him, we can remember his little idiosyncracies: the carrot-eating, the terse questioning, the affectionate faux-contempt towards the goofy sidekick. Karamchand was back on air today, and I think it will do well because of Karamchand -- the character, that is.The key to a popular detective series is to create a memorable character who entertains you, and who you enjoy reading about. Holmes, Poirot, Feluda were successful characters because once you were familiar with them, you looked forward to just being with them, regardless of plot. Indeed, plot was of negligible consequence. If you read Alexander McCall Smith's exceptionally popular Mma Ramotswe series, you will note that the plots there are amateurish, but the characters are immensely entertaining. That's the key to its popularity.I use the term "character" loosely, of course -- in much detective fiction, such as Agatha Christie's work, the main detectives are caricatures and not well-rounded characters with an interior life. And yet, they are entertaining caricatures, which is why it works.And so it is with Karamchand. Pankaj Kapur's character may never show the compassion or curiosity about the human condition that, say, Commissaire Maigret shows, but as long as he chews that carrot and tells Kitty to shut up, the TRPs will come in.(I'd accidentally put this post up on Chandrahas's blog, The Middle Stage, pressing the wrong button on my dashboard. Apologies to both his readers and mine!)

"Will you still love me?"

It's a common question for young people in love, when one of them says: "If I had an accident, say if I was disfigured badly, or lost an arm, would you still love me?" Or even: "Would you still marry me?"Well, here's one story:
Marine Sergeant Ty Ziegel already had his life planned out, he would marry his girlfriend Renee Kline upon returning from his second tour of duty in Iraq. But one fateful day a suicide bomber hit his truck, tearing apart his body and making him among the 20,000 soldiers that have been wounded in Iraq. He was blind in one eye, had a shattered skull, and most of his skin was burned off. Renee lived with Ty at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas for a year and a half, sharing Ty's every hope and fear. Their relationship became stronger than ever, and Ty and Renee moved back to their hometown in Illinois in July 2006, and got married in shortly thereafter.To understand what this means, see the pictures. The first two are of the couple before he went to war. And then...What would you do if you were the guy? What would you do if you were the girl?

Common Man vs Gundagardi

Normally, except in films, it's a no-contest: Gundagardi wins hands down, or up, or whatever. But sometimes Common Man fights back.That what a blogger named Hawkeye is doing in Bangalore. His wife protested against a milkman overcharging her for milk. The milkman:
... turned extremely abusive and verbally assaulted her. He insulted her, threatened her with physical and sexual harm and physically intimidated her. A crowd gathered but nary a person came to her rescue and to restrain the milkman.But rather than let the matter rest, Hawkeye and his wife took it up with the cops, consumer forums and the company the milkman represented. They met with both intimidation and indifference, but to their immense credit, are continuing with their battle. Hawkeye has a full series of posts on this, and I recommend you read the rest from him: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. His posts also have useful links to resources for those who might find themselves in similar situations.

Dating and courtship

In an article titled "Dating is Competitive Manipulation," Violent Acres writes:
The truth is women love to compete with other women. Women want to win men over. They want to be chosen by a man who could have any girl he wants. No woman of caliber wants to win a man by default. She wants her man to be a prize, a good catch, someone she can be proud of. When you tell a woman that her significant other is handsome or intelligent, she’ll likely beam with self satisfaction. In complimenting her man, you’ve complimented her. You have told her, in so many words, that she is capable of attracting a quality mate. The women who rail against this usually have a low self esteem and thus avoid competition because they fear they’ll always fail….or they’re ugly. You pick. [Emphasis in original.]So all you naive men who sweetly thought that just being charming and sensitive will land you a good mate (ha!), wisen up: the trick to getting a beautiful woman by your side is to first get another beautiful woman by your side, so that the woman you're really targetting feels that there's a challenge in landing you. That's all there is to it.Being older than the lady in question helps. Here's an abstract to a paper, "Courtship As A Waiting Game," by Ted Bergstrom and Mark Bagnoli:
In most times and places, women on average marry men who are older than themselves. We propose a partial explanation for this difference and for why it is diminishing. In a society where the economic roles of males are more varied and specialized than the roles of females, it may be that the relative desirability of females as marriage partners becomes evident at an earlier age for females than it does for males. We study an equilibrium model in which the males who regard their prospects as unusually good choose to wait until their economic success is revealed before choosing a bride. In equilibrium, the most desirable young females choose successful older males. Young males who do not believe that time will not treat them kindly will offer to marry at a young age. Although they are aware that young males available for marriage are no bargain, the less desirable young females will be offered no better option than the lottery presented by marrying a young male. We show the existence of equilibrium for models of this type and explore the properties of equilibrium.Going by this theory, it would seem that couples who marry young have low self-esteem, and I'm not too sure I'd agree with that. Some young people tend to be more romantic than others, and love and marriage happen. Or am I rationalising?Anyway, to go back to Violent Acres, do check out her post on confusing sexual identity with self worth. Common enough these days, I guess. (In the case of men, replace "sexual identity" with "financial status.") Pity.

`Salma`nesia!

Though Shah Rukh Khan is the biggest Bollywood star in Malaysia, on Thursday night it looked like Salman Khan had taken over his mantle. At the screening of Baabul during the on-going Global Indian Film Awards 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Salman strided in with spiked, gelled hair (we spotted Aalim around; guess this was his scary doing!) and the screams from the excited locals wouldn’t stop! The red carpet premiere of Baabul, at every floor of the imposing KLCC Towers, had zillions of fans waiting to get a glimpse of the stars.
The local folk stood for hours in advance just for a dekho of their favourite actors. They cheered for Salman and John Abraham in the same breath as there did for Shatrughan Sinha, Jeetendra and Rohit Roy! Though a ticket cost 10 ringgits (approx Rs 120), the rates were hiked to 30 ringgits to cash in on the starry presence.
Esha’s veg khoj
Post the screening of Baabul, a famished Esha Deol was looking for some veggies and dal. Malay cuisine abounds in seafood, and if you are veggie and unadventurous, you have to remain hungry (like Esha did). Or better still, stick to salads like Helen.
Gups day out
Blue bash: Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif at the GIFA event in Kuala LumpurDay 2 at GIFA 2007 had Sanjay Gupta unspool the promos of two films, Woodstock Villa (directed by Hansal Mehta) and Shootout At Lokhandwala (directed by Apoorva Lakhia), which he has co-produced with Balaji Telefilms. Present were some of the cast members, including Sikandar Kher, Neha Uberoi, Arbaaz Khan, Sunil Shetty and Rohit Roy.
Gupta also screened one of the stories from his next project Dus Kahaniyaan, titled Zahir, which stars Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza. Bajpai plays a bank employee who chucks his job to pursue his true calling (writing), while Mirza is his neighbour — who is a call centre employee by day and a bar dancer by night.
Support for Dada
Rohit Roy, who features in Shootout At Lokhandwala, seems to have carried his ‘Make Dada captain’ slogan to Malaysian shores as well. He hosted Sanjay Gupta’s event, but not before making all present aware that Sourav Ganguly had played a scintillating knock in South Africa.
Aaarti Chabria has been walking barefoot at the GIFA event. The reason: a sprained ankle. Prior to leaving for Kuala Lumpur, she twisted her ankle while walking along Breach Candy. She had to be rushed to the Breach Candy hospital but the plaster on her ankle could not dampen her spirits to fly to KL. She plays the role of a bar dancer in Shootout at Lokhandwala. We spotted her limping in a pretty pink plaster with her mother in tow.
Saif can’t come
Though he is Provogue’s new brand ambassador after Fardeen Khan opted out, Saif Ali Khan is skipping Provogue’s fashion gala where he was to be introduced as the new face of Provogue. It is left to Esha Deol and Upen Patel (also ambassadors) to walk the ramp, as part of GIFA 2007.

Meri awaaz suno!

Papa Amitabh Bachchan has lent his voice to several films in the past. But this is perhaps the first time that Abhishek is following his father’s footsteps in that direction. The actor recently recorded a voiceover for Smita Thackeray’s forthcoming production, Kaisey Kahein.
Just right
Directed by Mohit Hussein (director of the TV show Tumhari Disha) the film is set for a February 2007 release. Talking about Abhishek’s contribution to the project, Mohit says, “We were looking at a couple of names, but I was very keen on Abhishek. He had the right urban personality to match the feel of my film. I was delighted when he agreed to lend his voice.”
Bachchan junior will be heard in the introduction and concluding segment of Kaisey Kahein. “We begin the film with a voiceover, where Abhishek talks about the characters and lays the foundation of the plot. Towards the end of the film, the audience will again hear his voice summing up the movie.”
Mohit says that Abhishek even complimented the film after watching a teaser. He says, “Usually, people give clichéd reactions after watching a teaser, but Abhishek asked to see it twice. He loved it and congratulated me on the project. It definitely boosted my morale.”
Not a cliché
Kaisey Kahein stars newcomer Rajveer Dutt and Neha Julka. The film is a love story and Mohit says it won’t fall into the trap of a routine Bollywood cliché. “Every one claims that their film is different. I wouldn’t want to say the same. I think the audience will react instinctively after they see it.” Mohit has also scripted the film and is all geared up for the release. “We are looking at a pre-Valentine’s Day release. I think the film is a perfect date movie.”
Coming from the television industry, Mohit considers himself lucky to have gotten a good break in Bollywood. “My producer Smita Thackeray didn’t compromise on anything in the film. I was given a good budget and could accommodate everything I needed. The film’s teaser will be screened at GIFA and will release early next year.”

`Bigg Boss`s house is full of pythons!`

In the snake pit: Aryan VaidFor weeks now, the country witnessed the brewing romance between Aryan Vaid and Anupama Verma on Bigg Boss, whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears, holding hands and hugging for the camera. That romantic equation has now changed with Aryan’s ouster. The actor was evicted from the show last night. Currently, he is going through a myriad of emotions. “I’m shocked, disappointed and worried about my state of mind,” he said, speaking minutes after coming out of Bigg Boss’s studio in Karjat.
Were you surprised at your eviction?
I was stumped. I didn’t understand the logic behind it. There has been a lot of dirty politics going on in the house so I decided to stay away from it. Even now, I’m thinking about why I was voted out. I just don’t see why the audience would have wanted me out.
Did you expect to fall in love with Anupama?
Of course not. I entered the house with no expectations, just like every one else. I don’t want to give my relationship with Anupama any name. As every one has witnessed, it’s definitely a special bond and she’s now a very important person in my life. I value and treasure every moment I spent with her. She’s not only beautiful from the outside but also has a sparkling soul. I have tremendous respect for the way she has conducted herself in the house. We have met socially, but never had a chance to connect. This was a great opportunity to discover the real Punna.
Do you plan taking this relationship forward?
It’s too early to speculate on anything. I’ll wait for the show to get over and see where things go. I just hope Anupama takes care of herself and doesn’t fall into bad company.
Who is the bad company you are referring to?
Definitely Ravi (Kissen). I can’t believe he backstabbed me. He spoke about Anupama and me getting engaged on the show and how we are meant for each other. Then he goes into the confession room and nominates me. He said I was getting frustrated, which is why he wanted me out. I think he’s the one who is frustrated. There are pythons in that house! I can’t believe Ravi could stoop to such low levels, especially when he has a wife and three kids.
There’s a buzz that your romance with Anupama’s is staged…
I don’t know how to react to this. Its ridiculous for anyone to even think on those lines. I never planned to get close to Anupama before entering the show. It was natural and instinctive. What you saw was something very special, honest and straight from the heart. There was no acting or fake emotions attached to our bond. It’s disturbing when people think that way.
Your equation with Ragini kept changing with every episode.
There was no equation with Ragini to begin with. But when I saw her cry as I left, it struck me how strongly she felt for me. She was a pretty girl and I was just being myself. I dont think there is anything more to read between my frienship with her.
Your favourite moment on the show.
All the precious moments I spent with Anupama are special to me. It was great hanging out with her.
Who put you off the most?
It was scary watching Rupali and Carol giving massages to the guys. Every evening, these girls would land up in the guys room and turn into masseurs. I never expected to see anything of this sort. Of all the people in the house, Ravi put me off the most. I couldn’t stand him, especially towards the end.
Would you want to return to the house as the Wildcard entry?
Only if Anupama stays. I have no other reason to go back other than being with her.